Idle Heroes
by valasmaldoran
Summary: The Doctor and Donna take a break from saving the world and have a bit of fun.


This is one a bit happier than I'm Here. Read, review and enjoy. I own nothing, remember that.

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><p><em>Running is evil. If I was to look up the definition of evil, there would be a picture of the Doctor, running. I'd like to steal the TARDIS, find the first person who ever decided to do anything faster than walk, and throw a brick at his ugly little face!<em>

Donna gasped for air, hunched over with her hands on her knees for support. No one had ever told here that saving the world involved so much cardio! Running from humans and non-humans and giant insects and orbs of flying, glowing whatchamacallits wasn't on Ms. Noble's bucket lists, yet there she was. Though she would never say it to the Doctor, all the running and the heartbreak and the near-death experiences… they were worth it. She wouldn't trade a single tear in order to go back home. She was home; being with him was her reason for being put on this Earth. Donna Noble, born to travel with an impossible man in his impossible blue box to impossible places, meeting impossible people.

But now, all she could think about was wringing his skinny little neck.

The Doctor had routinely looked back when he hadn't heard Donna's aggravated puffing and sarcastic comments for a period lasting longer than three seconds. She was a few meters away, attempting to catch her breath. Humans. With an eye roll he dashed back, taking hold of her hand, pulling her into a run. Donna let out a startled 'Oi!', clearly unhappy about being dragged about like a rag doll.

"A little faster there, Donna!" the Doctor called, glancing back momentarily to find his companion shooting him a death glare.

"Any faster and I'll knock myself out!" she cried, obviously referring to her chest. The Doctor looked down instinctively before turning away quickly, attempting to hide the momentary flush of color to his cheeks. Donna was indeed… gifted in that department, and it caused some trouble at times. But he wasn't complaining, not at all.

"If I knew saving the world would involve this much running…" she began, stopping only to take a deep breath, "I would have packed roller-skates!"

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><p>It was said in jest, as most of the things that came out of her mouth were. But when she woke up to the Doctor holding a pair of TARDIS blue roller-skates with a big red bow around them, she nearly choked on her own spit. Clutching the sheets to her chest, the enraged redhead scrambled into a sitting position<p>

"What the hell?"

"Look! Roller-skates! Tah-dahhhhhh!"

"Why are you in my bedroom?"

"Oh, right, well… I guess I was a bit excited. Should have knocked. Sorry about that. Anyway, ROLLER-SKATES!"

"GET. OUT!"

The Doctor nearly dropped the skates as he darted from her room, closing the door securely behind him. Donna, on the other side of the door, rose from her bed cautiously. The last thing she wanted was the Doctor to burst in with another surprise and see her in her nightdress. She hurried off to her dresser, grabbing her outfit for the day, changing as quickly as possible before going to brush her teeth and hair.

When she retreated into the console room, she found the Doctor still holding her roller-skates. She felt a bit guilty for yelling at him, but he HAD scared her. Standing over her, grinning, holding a pair of roller-skates… was he insane? He was lucky she hadn't brought out her trainer-belt kung-fu moves on him.

The smile on his face told her she didn't have to apologize.

"Donna! Good, you're all dressed. Ohhhh you're going to love what I have planned for today."

Donna snorted, following him as he jumped from the railings, dashing towards the TARDIS doors.

"Anything beats waking up to your sodding face. Has anyone ever told you that you look downright INSANE when you grin?"

The Doctor stopped in his tracks, turning on his heels to face Donna. She jumped back a bit, unaware of how closely she had been following him until his nose was near inches from her forehead.

"I do not!"

"Do to."

"Do not. I look perfectly sane, see?" With that, he grinned. His pearly white teeth reflected back at her - perfect and straight. For a moment, she felt a twinge of jealously, but it passed as would the wind.

"Look! Your eyes are all buggy. Very 'Here's Johnny!' if you ask me."

The Doctor spun around again, this time facing the TARDIS. His reflection met him in the shine of her decorations, however distorted. He could find nothing creepy about his grin, though he couldn't deny that it was quite wide

"Does not," he chimed, reaching for the door handle.

"Does too," Donna replied under her breath, and the Doctors lack of response sent a triumphant grin to her own face. Score one for Donna Noble.

The door opened and Donna quickly shielded herself from the change in lighting. After a few blinks, her eyes focused, and the sight nearly knocked her off her feet. Protected by an eco-dome, they stood on the outskirts of an intergalactic roller rink. They were hurtling in space, skating through the stars and nebulas. The track pulsed neon pink, with streaks of green where skates rolled over the surface. She had honestly never seen something so magnificent before in her entire life. It was… beautiful.

The Doctor didn't bother Donna as she gawked at the view. He, himself was amazed. Nine hundred years of traveling through the universe, and the smallest things still made him stop in his tracks. He ushered her to a bench, allowing her to put on her skates before going to pay for their admission. When he returned, equipped with the same TARDIS blue skates she was wearing on his feet, Donna was still fumbling with the bow.

He went to take them from her, but she shooed his hand away.

"Do I look like someone who can't untie a flippin' bow?" she quipped, looking up at him momentarily.

"Well you can't…"

"Shut up. HA! See?" Donna finally slipped the ribbon free, deciding against throwing away the beautiful piece of material. Instead, she used it to reinforce her ponytail. The Doctor couldn't help but grin.

She slipped on the skates with ease. The Doctor grabbed hold of Donna's hand, as if it were the most mundane thing in the world, and helped her up. She wobbled at first, nearly going over in the contraptions. He stifled a chuckle, glad that she was too busy huffing to have heard him.

When she finally seemed to have a hold on herself, the Doctor lead the way out onto the rink. The moment their wheels touched the platform, the floor registered their every move. The Doctor whizzed out past Donna, gaining speed as he twirled and twisted. Donna kept close to the edge, holding on for dear life as her best friend etched designs into the floor.

He didn't seem to notice that she wasn't following him. He also didn't take notice to the symbols that glowed under his feet in the brightest of greens. Gallifreyan. It was a good thing, because the meaning of such symbols would have left him speechless.

"Donna, isn't this wonderful? Donna? Donna…" The Doctor spun around a few times, attempting to locate his friend through the mess of different human and sub-human species. Finally, her flaming ginger hair caught his attention. Even on a planet visited by people with skin every color of the rainbow, she was still easy to pick out of a crowd.

"The wall isn't going anywhere," he teased, rolling up behind her. Donna jumped, if that was even possible, groaning as her legs nearly gave out into a split. The Doctor was there however, helping her up by the arm before returning his hand to its rightful place, in her own. Absentmindedly he laced their fingers, cocking his head to the side.

"I know that," she replied, her voice raising an octave higher in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment. If she didn't think the action would send her hurtling to the ground on her ass, she would have slapped the silly little smirk playing on the Doctors lips.

"Oi! Stop it!"

"Stop what?"

"You're judging me."

"Am not."

"Are too!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, tightening his grip of her hand before pulling her away from the wall. It took a few moments, but she had steadied herself into a simple pace, not daring to move her legs. The Doctors glides were the only things keeping her moving.

"Oh come on! Donna Noble, super temp extraordinaire, is afraid to roller-skate?" The Doctor teased, purposely bumping into her. The squeal that came from her mouth nearly had him on the floor laughing.

"Shut up! I'm concentrating."

Donna slowly inched her left foot forward, glad to have the Doctor at her side. The last thing she wanted was an imprint of her behind glowing on the platform. The Doctor glided slowly, allowing his companion to mirror his leg movements. Within a few minutes, Donna finally got down a basic stride.

"Check me out, I'm skating! Let go," Donna cheered. The Doctor let her go, stopping momentarily to watch her. She did quite well, until her speed began to decrease and she panicked. With a laugh, he raced back to her side, grabbing hold of her hand again.

"That was close. Thanks," she muttered, cheeks the same color as her hair. The Doctor bumped his shoulder into hers, as if to say 'you have nothing to be embarrassed about'

"Don't worry, Donna. It takes a lot of skill to be able to roller-skate. No one blames for you not having it."

Like lightening, the Doctor was gone. For a moment she stood there, processing his words. _Did he just insult me? He did!_ "Hey!" Donna called out after him, forgetting all of her fears of falling as she whizzed through aliens and humans. He was going to pay for that.

And those where the days they lived for - when the universe stood still, when no one needed to be saved. On those days, she wasn't an unimportant temp from Chiswick, and he wasn't the last Time Lord in existence. They were just Donna and the Doctor. The Doctor and Donna. And that was enough.


End file.
